Occupy till I return

Luke 19:12 A nobleman was called away to a distant Empire to receive a Kingdom and then return. Before he left his city, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Occupy till I return'. There were also people of the citizenry who despised him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be king over us.’ And when he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded his servants to be called to him, to whom he had given the money, that he might call them to account for their occupying till his return.

In Daniel 4:13 Daniel had visions relating to Babylon's king, Nebuchednezzar, being dealt with by God, and he identified a 'watcher' which was an angel (‘iyr’) watching over the city (‘iyr’). So we see that a city is something that is watched over by angels. In ancient times cities had watchmen on the walls, as well as watching angels in the heavens. In Daniel ch. 9 Daniel had to wait for twenty one days for Michael to come and assist in the spiritual battle over the city. And in today’s cities we have angels or watchers over cities and we have the Church, also watched over by God’s angels (Revelation 1:20). The difference is that the Church is seated above Principalities and powers!

Matthew 16:18 I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
He was using language that the Jewish people of that day could relate to. He was actually touching the covenant promise made to Abraham in Genesis 22:17, where Abraham was told that his seed would possess the 'gates of his enemies'. Jesus was opening the gates of Heaven, and possessing the gates of His enemies. Those standing around and hearing Jesus say those words, were versed in the history of Israel and in its victories over its enemies, where the gates of the enemies were possessed.

The gates of the cities were where the elders of the city sat. Cities can have many gates. Jerusalem had twelve gates, according the Bible. The gates of today's cities stand for the different aspects of influence that rule people's lives.

There are earthly gatekeepers and Heavenly gatekeepers. We are told in Ephesians chapter 6:12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against Principalities and Powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The nature of 'spirit' is that it seeks expression, and Principalities, the dark angels who watch over cities will find expression through the structures and attitudes in that city.

There is a space to ‘occupy’.
Our spiritual warfare as the Church can shake and unseat those evil Principalities which are the 'heavenly' gatekeepers of the cities. These Prince powers set those attitudes in concrete, as it were, and people are imprisoned within those walls. People have their values endorsed by those attitudes promoted to them, and they become shaped and limited by them. But it is not enough to just shake loose the hold of those principalities. We must loose things on earth as well. Otherwise, if we do nothing about the structures and attitudes and only cast out the evil powers, then seven more demons will come in!

When Jesus gave the Church the keys of the Kingdom, He said 'what you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven' This is where the church begins to operate at the 'gates' on the earth. Just as there are gatekeepers in the Heavens, there are also gatekeepers in the earth, some harmful and some are a power for good.
Some of the gates of influence are; Politics, religion, education, the media, Law and order, sport and recreation, corporate finance and banking, healthcare and welfare.
Politics – The main gate of governmental influence. Religion – The gate of spiritual influence. Law and order – The gate of justice, defense, peace and order. Education – The gate of formation of values, knowledge and character. The media – The gate of unbiased transparent communication. Sport and recreation – The gate of friendly competition, character and role modeling. Corporate finance and banking – The gate of honest trade and merchandise and integrity. Healthcare and welfare – The gate of healing, care and compassion.